This was towards the end of a 50 mile bike ride for our boy scout troop, the final event to complete the cycling merit badge. All I had with me was my cell phone camera, sigh. So I realize the image quality is not the best, but how about the composition?

This was taken at the High Trestle Trail Bridge, spanning the Des Moines River near Woodward, Iowa.

Well fancy going for a 50 mile bike ride without a camera...lol...!!
Composition wise- have you cropped the image..? I'd probably like to see a little more sky and a little more beneath the riders- but not much more.....

First off, kudos on getting out there with your family on nice trips like this, keeping everyone fit, healthy and close. Its what makes life awesome and supprisingly not done by many families!

Regarding the photo, its really just a snap to me. You have recognised the cameraphone has lowered the quality of the image overall. It also looks like a heavy crop as the people look slightly blocky.

Forgetting that, lets say its high quality taken with a DSLR, the composition is still just that of a snap, like you just shouted over "hey everyone look over here" and you took a quick shot. everyone has stopped in a random place and are all just posing for your shot.

It would look much better if you cycled a good bit ahead of the pack, perhaps got down low on the road and shot up at them passing, giving a different perspective, movement, capturing more of the moment than the simple pose they are all doing here. Thats just one Idea but I hope you see what im saying.

Its still a nice pic that reminds you of a great day and after all the pretentious composition and quality critique has been stripped away, thats all that matters in the end.

I like the river making a diagonal to the upper right. The awkward square to the left is actually a decorative element that forms a sequence when looking down the bridge - I wanted to incorporate that into the photo because of this. The posed stance everyone took was a bit of a necessity given the situation. At least I positioned them on the lower third line, but I couldn't get the horizon on the upper line. A live action shot that showed the entire crew would not have been possible, especially with that cell phone.

Not that I'm getting defensive - if you see a snap shot, a snap shot it is. I look forward to shooting the bridge again sometime with a real camera.

ISTM that there are two competing purposes in this photo -- the shapes of the bridge and river and the record of the bike trip. Unfortunately, they are at odds with each other. For a photo of the bike trip, you are too far away from your subjects. For the picture of the shapes, the bikers just get in the way of the shot.